On April 8, 1913, the 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was ratified.
1 reply on “17th Amendment”
The Constitution specifies how it may be amended (Article V), and specifically prohibits any deprivation of the equal suffrage in the Senate of a State without its consent. Now, it’s important to recognize that the Constitution distinguishes between the constituent States and the people. The people living within the jurisdiction of a State are not that State.
The supposed Seventeenth Amendment deprived all the States of their suffrage in the Senate (replacing it with a suffrage of their people), but was not ratified by all the States; hence, its adoption would be in violation of the process of amendment, as some States lost suffrage without consent.
The problem is getting someone with standing to bring this objection before a Supreme Court willing to attend fully to the Constitution and not claim that the final part of Article V was reduced to an inkblot by delay.
Of course, even with the alleged Seventeenth Amendment ejected, none of the constituent States would now choose other that to delegate the selection of their Senators to the voters in their jurisdictions. So this hill is not one upon which to die.
1 reply on “17th Amendment”
The Constitution specifies how it may be amended (Article V), and specifically prohibits any deprivation of the equal suffrage in the Senate of a State without its consent. Now, it’s important to recognize that the Constitution distinguishes between the constituent States and the people. The people living within the jurisdiction of a State are not that State.
The supposed Seventeenth Amendment deprived all the States of their suffrage in the Senate (replacing it with a suffrage of their people), but was not ratified by all the States; hence, its adoption would be in violation of the process of amendment, as some States lost suffrage without consent.
The problem is getting someone with standing to bring this objection before a Supreme Court willing to attend fully to the Constitution and not claim that the final part of Article V was reduced to an inkblot by delay.
Of course, even with the alleged Seventeenth Amendment ejected, none of the constituent States would now choose other that to delegate the selection of their Senators to the voters in their jurisdictions. So this hill is not one upon which to die.